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Monday, January 23, 2017

New Tricks for Old (But Pretty!) Junk

John and I spent last Saturday stomping around one of the nation's largest outdoor antique fairs again, and our sinuses still haven't recovered. Something between the dust and the trees and the 85 degrees (if you please, mon amis) has our allergies intent on destroying both us and everything within sneeze-blast-radius. Bleh.

Still, it was super fun. I've mentioned Renninger's Antique show before, because with over a hundred acres of the best junk ever, it's like shopping in a giant interactive museum. Plus there's live music and bad-for-you food and old toys and stuff, so do your worst, allergies. (Oh wait, you did.) (ACHOO!)

Blurry aerial view of Renninger's. It's massive, and extends way out into the trees on the right.

We had a relatively small haul this round:

That's a $3 toy blimp I hope to clean up (wouldn't it be a cute Christmas ornament?), and the most ridiculously fancy candy dish I've ever seen. It's heavy and the glass is cool and it cost $10, though, so yeah, no-brainer.

You're going to judge me for these next two, but I'm OK with that:

I can't help it, you guys: I LOVE THIS CHEESY OWL ART. We'll hang it next Christmas for our Potter party. The seller threw in the little statue for free (we paid $15), which'll get a painted makeover later.

Anyhoo (get it? HOO?), getting to the actual point of this post, I spotted some nifty upcycling ideas out at Renninger's. Check this out:

John and I both went moon-eyed over this metal-and-glass cloche. It's massive, and was in one of the nicer tents, so we were sure it would be hundreds of dollars. Turned out, less than 50. Why? Because it wasn't originally a cloche; it was a hanging light fixture the seller just turned upside down.

Wha WHAAAAT?

Tell me you're not going to look at light fixtures in a whole new light from now on. Pun intended.

(We didn't buy it because we have nowhere to display it - remember my clutter-management rules? Broke our hearts a bit, I'll be honest.)

Next, you've probably seen wind chimes made with old silverware, but this seller took the idea a step further, and incorporated silver teapots:

Hard to see, but there are crystal drops leading from the spot to a lily made of spoons, with the chimes (which are more spoons and forks) hanging from the flower's stem.

I love the crystal water stream - so clever! - and the cutlery chimes sound surprisingly sweet.

These things are impossible to photograph, but here are two more designs:

No one uses fancy silver pitchers and sugar bowls anymore, so I am LOVING this idea! It takes something out from the cabinet and gets it out in the open where you can appreciate it.

This last upcycle idea is all me, so lemme see what you guys think:

These metal clock cases are somewhat common, and also seem to be pretty cheap (I paid less than $10 for this one), so I started brainstorming ways to use them.

At first I figured pocket watch display - which you could still do - but it's a very deep case, so it's dark inside. So then I started thinking about ways to light it up.

After some scrounging and experimenting with things I already had around the house, I ended up with this:

An illuminated display for tiny treasures!

This is ridiculously easy, too: all I did was wind a battery operated LED string light into a circle and arrange it inside. There are two inner rims where the clock used to be, and those help keep the wires in place:

The case has a removable metal plate on the bottom, so I had John cut a notch on the edge for the wire to feed through.

My LED battery pack is too big to fit inside the clock base, but just barely, so I bet another strand might fit. Still, it's nice having the pack outside, so you can turn it on and off easier.

Next I found that long brass piece (I think it was part of a candlestick) in my junk bin to use as a display stand. I stuck it down inside the case with poster tack, so nothing is permanently attached.

The crystal seahorse was actually a gift from one of you readers (Hi, Hannah!), and look how sparkly with all these lights on it! (The seahorse is also stuck down with a little glob of poster tack, though I really should buy some Museum Putty instead.)

These LEDs are almost too bright in the dark, but that just adds to the drama, right?

Ooooh. Aaaahhh.

I kind of like the exposed wires, too; it adds to the steampunk/industrial vibe, and keeps it from being TOO fussy. Right? I think? Maybe?

At this point I'm just adding pictures because I think they're pretty.

I'll stop now.

:D

Have you guys ever tried upcycling old junk or antiques? Share your wisdom in the comments!

Also, I'm still waiting to hear from 2 of the 3 winners I announced last week, so if you entered the art drawing, be sure to check to see if you won!

55 comments:

That's an awesome display design, and a super cute seahorse. If you want to dim the lights a little bit, nail polish works really well. I used it to dim down the leds in a marque style moon nightlight I made my niece.

Guys, my parents had that EXACT SAME owl painting when I was a kid! I have no idea whether it still survives somewhere in their house, but that's funny! I hadn't thought of it in years! I wonder how many of them exist. :D

Jen, the owl picture is vintage Home Interiors. It's called "Dad and Little Henry" and my mom has one...and I love it. She has a little shelf just below it with greenery and a couple owl figurines as well.

I'm betting if you cut a piece of parchment paper or vellum if you want to get fancy you could hide the light wires & soften the lights a bit. I'm not saying you NEED to - just an idea for you or someone else to experiment with.

You know, I actually tried that, and the paper fits great on that inside edge. I just used white printer paper, though, which was too thick (so the lights were too dim) and too stark - but I bet a creamy parchment *would* look awesome. Maybe I'll grab some and give it a go. :)

Funny, I just cleaned out the bottom compartment of my china cabinet and came across an old silver teapot and a full set of silverware that belonged to my grandmother. I had no clue what to do with it all, until now...

Great finds! I join the crowd of people who had that owl painting growing up. Me too! What freaked me out more is that I had that exact owl figurine, but it was it was one I painted at a ceramics store... and no longer have....it doesn't have a year or initials on it, does it? :-D That would be WEIRD. But it would be nice to know they went to such a good home.

We have a very large antiques show here called Brimfield (name of the town). Largest in the northeast and I love it. Gotta see if I can find some of my treasures but using the clock case like that is inspired! Thanks for sharing!

My grandmother from Missouri collected owls (her maiden name was Wing). She had that picture, and also the figurine (which now belongs to me). It's so weird to see them on your page!!Seahorse display = AMAZING!!

We picked up this display(??) unit for the wall and have been looking for something similiar (but hopefully deeper) for ages. We ended up with a type tray for display purposes, but the holes are really too small to be useful. But, uh, we have found a way to fill it... That's kind of like re-purposing?(too lazy to figure out how to embed links again)original: https://goo.gl/photos/rmdbWL51RqLa4Mid8type tray: https://goo.gl/photos/7Ne84RBNXVRyAuYk9

No owl pics in my childhood home. And I was even a child in the 70's! It's cracking me up how many of you had/have that exact same picture though.Kudos to the poster who actually knew the name of the piece!

Also forgot to say Jen, I will trade you temperatures. Today it's 22 degrees here. I too am a pretty severe allergy sufferer and have to endure weekly stabbagings and jabbagings from my allergist as a result.

Yup, my mom had that exact owl art on our living room wall in the '80s (or maybe before then?) until we moved in '95. It might still be in a box in the garage or storage shed.My first thought when I saw this pic was "where's the other one - isn't it one of a pair?", so there may have been another art piece that went with this one, but I'm not 100% sure.And we had some kind of owl figurine(s) too, but my memory is a little fuzzy on what it(they) looked like.Texas/USA

My mom collected owl things throughout my childhood and while I'm not sure she had that *exact* picture, I can attest that she had ones very similar. Love the seahorse display, super creative (as are all your projects, really)!

Two sets of grandparents and one set of great grandparents each had that owl painting in their home (TN,KY, and AL respectively). One of my grandmothers is downsizing, and I'm surprised she hasn't tried to pawn it off on me yet.

It's borderline creepy how many commenters had that same owl painting, lol. Several of my family members collect owls, but I've never been a fan, like, at all. Which I suppose is good because I married a Tsalagi man and in their culture owls are sort of a no-no.

That clock case is great! I'm also a big fan of the teapot chimes, and if I ever have a yard that I want to look nice (as opposed to the small patch of dirt that's just big enough to be the dogs' toilet and I can't even let the hobbit child play there right now, because poop), I may have to borrow that idea.

I absolutely ADORE the case with the sparkly sea horse! I'm in the process of figuring out how I want to set up and decorate my place (Hard with a toddler running around) And your blog is my go to for all my ideas! LOVE IT SO MUCH!!

My honorary auntie has a "Dad and Little Henry" picture too, back in WV. She collects all things owl. I think there may even be a matching one to it...

That seahorse display is amazing! Now I'm trying to think if I have any tiny treasures that I could show off. I tend to buy large things... I'm not sure why, but I'm often drawn to the biggest, most dramatic pieces of stuff.

There's a man who has a stall at our local art fair every summer who makes things like that. My mom bought a bird feeder that's two bowls, one upside down to form a "ceiling", with fancy twisting metal between them, a nice decorative knob on the top, and a long stake on the bottom [so squirrels can't reach; it happens to be the perfect height for us to see it out our living room window]. It's very pretty, but the silver tarnished out in the elements -- we could polish it regularly to remedy this, but meh…

Hahahahahaha, that owl "painting"! Way back in the Live Journal days it was kind of a tradition to take a picture of that thing every store you saw it in and post to the thrift whore group. It used to be EVERYWHERE in the early 2000s. The Salvo I worked at had about five of them at one time for a while.

The owl print....WOW!! It's so funny to see all the comments that others had it, too! It hung at my house when I was little and I remember it fondly. My mom gave it to me just a couple of months ago, so now I need to find a place to hang it in my house!

This post is literally the makings of your very own Beauty and the Beast castle. You have the cloche - which holds the rose; the tea set - Mrs. Pots and Chip; and the metal clock - Cogsworth. I scrolled through the,pictures and thought you were working on a B&tB vignette in anticipation of the movie coming soon!